We investigate to what extent volunteer-based sampling of large-scale biobanks biases associations and estimate inverse probability (IP) weights to correct for such bias. Using the UK Biobank (UKB) as an example of a large-scale volunteer-based cohort, and population-representative data from the...

Selection bias in genome-wide association studies (GWASs) due to volunteer-based sampling (volunteer bias) is poorly understood. The UK Biobank (UKB), one of the largest and most widely used cohorts, is highly selected. We develop inverse probability weighted GWAS (WGWAS) to correct GWAS summary...

Many financial situations present individuals with simple alternatives to solving complex problems. The value of these alternatives depends on whether individuals are sophisticated and know when they are better off opting out of complexity. We tested complexity's effects and evaluated...

The appropriateness of many high-cost loan regulations depends on whether demand is driven by financial conditions (“misfortunes”) or imperfect decisions (“mistakes”). Bank records from Iceland show borrowers have especially low liquidity just before getting a loan. Borrowers exhibit...

This chapter will explore what economic theory can offer in terms of improving our understanding of the potential causes of health inequalities over the life course. We use the model by Galama and Van Kippersluis (2019), which is based on the seminal health-capital theory of Grossman (1972), to...

Policy effectiveness can depend on the level of understanding that targeted beneficiaries have toward the policy. In particular, low levels of health insurance literacy can mitigate the labor market implications of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In this paper, we estimate the effect of the ACA...

This User Guide provides information about measures of well-being available in since 2002 in the US Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA),...

We present a theory of human capital, with its two most essential components, health capital and, what we term, skill capital, endogenously determined within the model. Using the theory, and a calibrated version of it, we uncover and highlight an important economic mechanism driving...

Economists and social scientists have debated the relative importance of nature (one’s genes) and nurture (one’s environment) for decades, if not centuries. This debate can now be informed by the ready availability of genetic data in a growing number of social science datasets. This paper...

This User Guide provides basic information about the broad topic of physical functional health questions from the Harmonized Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and its sister harmonized surveys. These include: the US Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the Mexican Health & Aging Study (MHAS), the...